Sacramento Kings (1-1) at Golden State Warriors (1-1)
Tipoff: Saturday. 11/2/2013, 7:30PM PDT
Location: Oracle Arena, Oakland, CA
TV: CSNBA | Radio: KNBR 680 AM
Livetweet: @LetsGoWarriors (by @goldenstatenz)
Coming off a loss to the defending Pacific Division champions, the Los Angeles Clippers, the Warriors look to get back to winning ways. The Kings represent the Warrior closest geographical rival, and games often tend to be a mixture of fans from both teams creating an exciting atmosphere for northern California bragging rights.
The Kings come in with momentum from the offseason, featuring a new ownership group who has rejuvenated a fan-base in fear of losing it’s team, and former Warriors assistant coach, Mike Malone as the new head coach. After many down years under the Maloof brothers, marked by spend thrift management constantly trading away players, draft picks and bringing in under qualified coaches with limited tools to succeed, Sacramento is looking to usher in a new era by establishing a winning culture. Despite their troubles in the last year under the Maloof ownership group, the Kings did beat the Warriors 3 out of 4 times, and have been something of a bogey team. They always seem to get up for the “Battle of I-80” and pose problems.
Everything on the Kings begins and ends with talented but volatile big man, DeMarcus Cousins. Through the first two games, Cousins is averaging 27 points and 12 rebounds, showing what a force he can be. When DeMarcus gets going, the Kings perimeter players become dangerous, as they all have the ability to get hot behind the 3 point line, especially when left open. The Warriors will need to stop the inside out game of the Kings to come away with a win.
In addition to the inside-out game, the Kings head coach, Mike Malone was the Warriors lead assistant the last two years, and knows the Warriors players and their tendencies. Look for him to add a few wrinkles to frustrate players and a system he knows well. Mark Jackson would do well to mix up the play calling a bit and push the tempo to not allow this as much in the half-court like we saw in the preseason 91-90 loss.
Keys to the game:
Rebound, Rebound, REBOUND – In the three wins, last season, the Kings outrebounded the Warriors by a margin of +45 (an average of 15 a game). Second chance points killed the Warriors, particularly with Cousins, who averaged 4 offensive rebounds a game in each of the three victories. In Sacramento’s one loss last year, Cousins only grabbed 6 overall rebounds, and 2 offensive v. Andrew Bogut and David Lee’s combined 18. The most vital thing the Warriors can do is clean up the glass, and not allow those easy put backs or kick out three pointers which haunted them last year v. Sacramento.
Take care of the Ball – The Warriors loss thursday to the Los Angeles Clippers came down largely to the fact they committed 24 turnovers as compared to 15 opening night v. the Los Angeles Lakers. The Kings are a more athletic team who will be keen to punish the Warriors in transition if they are careless. Stephen Curry cannot commit 10 turnovers again for the Warriors to have a chance at winning.
Stay out of Foul Trouble- If the first two games are any indication, coach Malone is looking to get Cousins the ball early and often. Cousins has taken 22 shots per game and used up 36.9% of their possessions, a percentage usually reserved for the likes of ball dominant scorers like Carmelo Anthony and Kobe Bryant. He is their first option and the key to their offense. In addition to the 22 shots per game, Cousins is also averaging eight trips to the free throw line a game. Cousins is physical and he will be looking to get the Warrior bigs into early foul trouble to take advantage of Warriors second unit.
Push the Tempo- The Kings defense is still a work in progress, and the more you can get out in transition, the harder it will be for them. For as talented as Cousins is offensively, he still has a way to go defensively to become an elite center, and pushing the tempo will only increase the chances he’s out of position as well as tire him out for the offensive end.
Predictions:
• Curry bounces back with a less than 3 turnover performance
• Bogut and Jermaine O’Neal do a good job limiting DeMarcus’ efficiency and keep his shooting percentage below 45%
• Instead of one going for 38 points and the other going for 10, Curry and Klay Thompson will comfortably share the scoring load in a more balanced attack with David Lee and all three contributing 20 points.
• After a close first half, the Warriors will pull away with a comfortable victory in the second half taking advantage of the Kings tired legs on the back end of a back to back. Warriors 110, Kings 95
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